


Lavender, Elfroot and Fire Smoke

by Evie_G



Series: Aderyn Lavellan [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Campfires, Dalish, Dancing, Drunken Confessions, Drunkenness, F/M, Fluff, POV Solas, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 14:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4023301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evie_G/pseuds/Evie_G
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just another little ditty.<br/>Lavellan asks Solas to attend a bonfire at the Dalish camp after she recovers from her injuries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lavender, Elfroot and Fire Smoke

He watched her flying around the campsite, his little bird. She was radiant in this brief moment of respite, breaking bread with the Dalish camp. Her hair unbound, glowing like spun copper in the firelight. The fatigue that had etched her face for so long was finally lifting, it seemed.

Solas smiled despite himself. She had made a full recovery and she was happy, in her own way; surrounded by her kin, dancing freely. She deserved this. Inquisitor Aderyn caught him looking at her, as she had too many times before, and returned his smile before twirling away.

It irked him somewhat that his facade did not allow him to join the revelry. The Inquisitor was dancing with a Dalish whelp of a man who was spinning her around at a dizzying pace. He was out of time with the music, barely following the steps and his frame was nothing short of indecent. Solas wanted to freeze the boy from inside out. Every time that man-child touched her, every time the little bastard leaned in too close -- dammit every single time he fucked up the fucking dance steps!

But no! If this was what she wanted then she _deserved_ this.

He knew he wanted her to be happy but his pride whispered the truth; the only time he wanted to see her truly happy would be if _he_ was the cause of it.

_It was selfish thoughts like this that caused the death of a nation_ , Solas thought ruefully. He had caused her enough pain, for his foci had marked her as surely as his heart had. Like all elven she had been paying for his mistakes before they had even met, but for her it was infinitely worse.

The dance ended and the Inquisitor went to grab a goblet of wine. The runt followed her, lust written as brazenly across his face as his vallaslin. Solas was torn between letting the Inquisitor make her own bad decisions and selfishly intervening _for the good of the wider mission of course_. His pride won.

Taking a goblet from the table, Solas placed himself directly between her and the elf. "Inquisitor, might I have a moment of your time?"

"Aderyn, remember?” she smiled sheepishly, “What is it you need, Solas?"

He cleared his throat and pointedly gestured towards the boy. "Alone?" he whispered.

Her eyes widened, a look of surprise flitting across her brows before she stammered, "Oh, um, lead the way".

Once he had effectively separated her from the group, Solas found he was lost for words.

Confusion pouted her lips as her footsteps became unsure. Was she… intoxicated? He was going to kill that loathsome creature, tear him limb from limb with his teeth. Plying her with drink to take advantage, it was contemptible.

The Inquisitor’s words brought him out of his blackening mood. “Were you going to tell me something?”

Solas studied her then. She wasn’t slurring her speech but her movements were clumsy. “How much have you had to drink Inquisitor?”

“I don’t know, a few? Leave me be hahren, I’m having fun.” She stumbled slightly, giggling like the barely past adolescent she was. “Maybe you should try it sometime”. Her eyes were glinting with possibilities.

Solas sighed, deep and heavy, “You have recovered well then, I take it?”

"You drag me all the way out here to ask me if I've recovered? Solas, I almost thought that you were trying to get me alone!" Her tone was flirtatious, her green eyes sparkling with mischief and a smirk tugged one corner of her mouth upwards.

This was not going well. "I simply wanted to ensure that there were no... unwanted advances made upon you," he replied with a grimace.

The same smirk graced her lips and she whispered close to his ear, "I didn't know you cared about my virtue, hahren".

Pink flushed from the corners of his cheekbones to the tips of his ears. He could smell her, a heady blend of lavender, elfroot and fire smoke. She was too close, but not close enough. This was too far. The alcohol was making her dangerously forward so Solas stepped backwards, putting distance between himself and the Inquisitor, whose swaying was becoming more unsteady.

She didn’t say anything else for a few, uncomfortable moments. Her smirk had disappeared, rejection filling her eyes. "Was I mistaken, bringing you back here? You have made your feelings about the Dalish very clear to me and yet I insisted you come here tonight. Please forgive me Solas, it was selfish".

He broke her gaze, staring into the untouched goblet of wine he still clutched. Until now, he hadn’t thought as to why she had invited him here. It was odd, but he had relished the thought of spending time with her outside their usual group. He wanted to see what she was like when she was freed from the constraints of the Inquisition.

"You must stop asking forgiveness da'len, although I have been wondering why you would chose me of all your companions to accompany you".

"I thought that perhaps you would dance with me," she sighed heavily, her legs almost buckling beneath her, "but I know now I was being foolish".

Solas smiled weakly, looking up at her from his goblet, "I enjoyed watching you dance". He was pushing back. He shouldn’t push back. He couldn’t help it.

"Oh?" That bemused little smile was gracing her lips again, the one that twisted around his heart. Her eyebrows raised, almost in a challenge. His mischievous little bird.

"You looked happy... With that elf," he countered.

She laughed with a slight hiccough. "With Tarviel? He kept ruining the dance steps! And besides, he's not the sharpest arrow in the quiver".

Solas chuckled, "then why did you spend most of your evening with him?"

Standing had become too much for her, so Aderyn sat heavily on the ground with a small _hhmph_. Her lithe legs were splayed like a new-born deer, the goblet of wine she had been nursing spilled unnoticed on the ground beside her. With her back to the fire, it almost hurt to look upon her. Why he was still entertaining this conversation was beyond him, but it did please him that Aderyn held no feelings for the boy.

Solas turned and sat himself cross-legged beside her, his left knee almost touching her thigh.

Aderyn’s gaze was fixed at an indeterminate point in front of them, refusing to meet his enquiring blue eyes as she replied. "Because everyone else was either unwilling, like you, or intimidated or... They just don't like me. I’ve tried to help them but I was never very good at fitting in and I think some of the clan remember me from the last Arlathvenn. I suppose it's hard to forget the girl who set fire to everything. Anyway, like I said, you were the one I wanted but you looked so unhappy here that I didn't dare ask".

She had confessed that she wanted him. The words sang in his ears as he struggled to keep his features calm. She was inebriated, she didn't know what she was saying. This couldn't go any further, no matter how much he wanted to sweep her in his arms, carry her back to his tent and watch where the night took them. But oh how he _wanted_. This old soul in a quickling body. In his long years, how had no one come close to her magnificence? Was it simply because he couldn't have her? In the times before, he simply would have taken her with such arrogance as to claim her very soul for himself. It would have been so easy.

She had moved her face towards his, her visage almost bashful as she continued, “I just wanted to let go, just for one night. Pretend I’m not the herald to a deity I don’t believe in, or revered by a race of people who have previously tried to kill me. I just wanted to be normal again”.

His hand moved as if under someone else’s control. He cupped her cheek, his thumb gently tracing her vallaslin. “You could never be normal, Aderyn,” he whispered. This, him touching her, her state of intoxication, this whole scene, was wrong. But her skin was so soft and warm. His thumb had moved to the corner of her mouth before he came to his senses and pulled away, the weight of his mistakes falling once again upon his shoulders. "Inquisitor, I think it's time for us to retire for the evening”. As much as it pained him to say it, he knew the evening couldn’t go on.

She didn’t even correct him on the use of her name. “You’re right. I’ve done enough pretending for one night. Sleep well Solas”. He watched her wobble to the aravel assigned to her.

Solas knew the ache in both his soul and his body meant he would not sleep well.


End file.
